Language-specific word processing systems that utilize alphanumeric keyboards (e.g. the English QWERTY keyboard) have existed for many years. Alphanumeric keyboards work well for languages that employ a small alphabet, such as the Roman character set. Unfortunately, not all languages have a small character base. For instance, character-based languages (also referred to as symbol languages), such as Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and the like, may have thousands of characters. Language specific keyboards do not exist for character-based languages because it is practically impossible to build a keyboard to support separate keys for so many different characters.
Rather than designing expensive language and dialect-specific keyboards, language-specific word processing systems allow the user to enter phonetic text from a small character-set keyboard (e.g., a QWERTY keyboard) and convert that phonetic text to language text of a character-based language. “Phonetic text” represents the sounds made when speaking a given language, whereas the “language text” represents the actual written characters as they appear in the text. In the Chinese language, for example, Pinyin is an example of phonetic text and Hanzi is an example of the language text. Typically, the set of characters needed to express the phonetic text is much smaller than the character set used to express the language text. By converting the phonetic text to language text, many different languages can be processed by the language specific word processor using conventional computers and standard QWERTY keyboards.
To facilitate user entry of phonetic text, language-specific word processing systems often employ a language input user interface (UI). Existing language input UIs, however, are not very user friendly because they are not easy to learn and they do not accommodate a fast typing speed. As an example of such unfriendliness, some conventional language input user interfaces disassociate the phonetic text input from the converted language text output. For instance, a user may enter phonetic text in one location on the visual display screen and the converted characters of the language text are presented in a separate and distinct location on the screen. The two locations may even have their own local cursor. This dual presentation can be confusing to the user in terms of where entry is actually taking place. Moreover, the user must continuously glance between the locations on the screen.
As a result, existing language input UIs are often only used by professional typists, not by everyday personal computer (PC) users. In character-based language countries, these concerns have a significant affect on the popularity of PC use.
In general, there are two types of language input user interfaces: (1) a code-based user interface and (2) a mode-based user interface. In a code-based user interface, users memorize codes related to words of the language. The codes are input by way of an input device and converted to the desired language text. This type of user interface allows users to input text very fast once they have memorized the codes. However, these codes are often not easy to memorize, but are easy to forget.
In a mode-based user interface, phonetic text is input and converted to the desired language text. Mode-based user interfaces do not require users to memorize codes, but typically require users to switch modes between inputting and editing language text. One example of a mode-based user interface is employed in Microsoft's “Word”-brand word processing program that is adapted for foreign languages by utilizing phonetic-to-language conversion, such as Chinese. When entering phonetic text in the “Word” program, a user is presented with a localized tool bar that enables the user to switch between an inputting mode in which a user inputs phonetic characters (e.g., Chinese Pinyin) and an editing mode in which a user corrects inevitable errors that occasionally occur as a result of the recognition and conversion process.
One drawback with such traditional interfaces is that users must be aware of the current mode—input or edit—and take additional steps that are extraneous to text entry (i.e., clicking a tool bar control button) to switch between the modes. This interface thus causes extra work for the user and diverts the user's attention from text entry to others peripheral control aspects, thereby significantly reducing input speed.
Another problem associated with mode-based user interfaces concerns how to handle, from a user interface perspective, the inevitable conversion errors. A conversion error occurs when the recognition and conversion engine converts the phonetic text into an incorrect language character. This may be quite common due to the nature of a given language and the accuracy at which the phonetic text can be used to predict an intended character. After the user converts to the editing mode, the user interface typically provides some way for the user to correct the character. In Microsoft's “Word”-brand word processing program for China, for example, a user is presented with a box containing possible alternative characters. If the list is long, the box provides controls to scroll through the list of possible characters.
Another drawback of traditional mode-based user interfaces is that they require mode switching for inputting different languages. When a user is inputting phonetic text and wants to input text of a second language, the user has to switch modes to input the second language. For instance, in the context of Microsoft “Word”, the localized tool bar offers a control button that enables a user to toggle between entry of a first language (e.g., Chinese Pinyin) and entry of a second language (e.g., English). The user must consciously activate the control to inform the word recognition engine of the intended language.
Another concern related to a language input UI, particularly from the perspective of non-professional typists, is typing errors. The average user of phonetic text input UIs is particularly prone to entering typographic typing errors. One reason for the typing errors is that users from different geographic regions often use different dialects of a character-based language. Users misspell phonetic text due to their local dialects. A slight deviation in phonetic text can result in entirely different character text.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved language input user interface.